I just turned 32. Startups are killing me.
Do you remember what it felt like when you were in school and a teacher would call on you in class but you didn’t know the answer or hadn’t read the chapter?
I do.
When this happened to me, I could feel an unsettling gurgle emerge in my gut while hot, almost palpable steam seemingly traveled up my torso and until it was released in embarrassing red blotches on my face.
I don’t know the answer! Everyone is going to know that I don’t know the answer.
The dread of “not knowing” has followed me since I left history class and graduated to coworking spaces and offices with ping-pong tables.
The world of startups can be exhilarating, energizing and fun. It can bring you incredible opportunities to learn, and unprecedented chances to succeed early in your career.
I’ve spent the better part of the last 10 years iterating, tracking, testing and growing. I’ve worked in early stage teams and well-funded Series B companies. In these experiences I have found opportunities simply not available in other industries.
Yet far too often, I’ve seen the unique pressures facing startup employees and founders alike go unaddressed or tackled with the minimum effort (yoga class anyone?).
While every job carries a certain amount of stress, startups exist in a particularly intense pressure-cooker that makes imposter syndrome and self-doubt thrive.
Just like me when the teacher called my name in school, startup employees are faced with the particular anxiety that comes from the daily (sometimes hourly) questions that don’t have easy answers.
Move Fast and Break People (cheers to Meera Innes for coming up with the phrase) is about resisting the temptation to push this under the rug. It’s about openly discussing the fear, uncertainty and panic that often makes going into work such a struggle so that you know that you’re not alone, find out how others have faced your problems, and learn how some have overcome them.
Mental health has gone unaddressed in startups for too long in the now infamous pursuit to “Move fast and break things.”
Let’s work on this together.
What to expect from Move Fast and Break People
- Examples from the startup world through guest posts, interviews and articles that showcase the pervasiveness of mental health challenges in startups.
- Identify changes, tips and steps you can take to improve your mind, attitude and outlook.
Stress and anxiety at work can feel like splinter in your heel. Often it’ll be all you can think about and you’ll notice an acute sting with every step.
But other times it will catch you by surprise and you’ll have to remind yourself that you really need to do something about that splinter. It’s not going away on its own.
Of course, there isn’t really a way to truly get rid of the feelings, thoughts, stresses and worries that can make working in startups such a grind.
Move Fast and Break People is about offering perspective and tools to make daily challenges manageable.
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